Abyssinians’ Collins rocks Redbones

BERNARD Collins of the Abyssinians gave an outstanding performance at the Redbones Blues Café in St Andrew last Friday.

The well-attended gig was an 'edutainment' event. Collins, in full African garb, spliced his musical deliveries with historical data of the famed harmony trio he cofounded with Donald Manning in 1968.

"We are here tonight to keep the music alive. The Abyssinians are the first to put Amharic (the language of Ethiopia) in reggae music," Collins told the audience.

Supported by the harmonies of George Henry and Melvin Trusty, and backed by the Clinch All Stars band, Collins’ performance was energetic.

Even though his voice is not as strong as if was in his heyday with the Abyssinians, Collins still has what it takes to stir an audience.

He was particularly impressive on Good Lord which he performed after opening with Forward Jah Jah. He followed with Yi Mas Gan, Shadrach, Meshach and Abendego, and Let My Days Be Long to complete the first segment of the show.

Collins so worked up the patrons that they demanded a repeat performance of the reggae hymn recorded at Studio One in 1969 (originally recorded as Far Far Away) before re christened Satta Massagana in 1971. Bernard Collins’ performance at Red Bones showed why the song has been covered countless times.

ADVERTISEMENT

POST A COMMENT

HOUSE RULES

1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website
or in the newspaper � email addresses will not be published.

2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been
submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.

3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic
under discussion.

4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.